Answer to Question 1
Feedback: The chapter addresses four indicators of reduced societal cohesion: increasing polarization, declining trust in societal institutions, the widening inequality gap, and the deepening divides over diversity. Group polarization is caused in part by the increased number of media outlets available, which allow people to limit their exposure to only their own point of view. Events such as fraud and deceptive advertising on the part of businesses, inadequate government oversight and protection, and scandals in religious institutions have left people cynical and mistrustful of institutions. There is a widening gap between the rich and poor, which now encompasses the middle class. The nation is growing, and growing more diverse, but assimilation is unlikely, which makes conflict more likely.
Answer to Question 2
Feedback: Order theorists assume that commonly held values are like social glue binding otherwise diverse people in a cohesive societal unit. Unlike functional integration, unity is achieved here through similarity rather than through difference. Wright and Rogers identified common values among most people in the United States such as freedom, prosperity, efficiency, fairness, and democracy. People in the United States also demonstrate consensus in attitudes toward unifying symbols such as the flag and the Constitution.
Four main models that describe the relationship between ecosystem function and biodiversity.
Different types of Snellen eye charts.
Occupational Prestige: How The United States Compares With Sixty Countries
The two main types of nerve cells.
Two common types of seed germination
The Lorenz Curve for the United States, 2009